Lulu and the Hamster in the Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

the most tremendous crash.

    â€œCareful!” cried Mellie, forgetting to be quiet.
    â€œI am being careful!” said Lulu and did it again. She was about to swing it a third time when Nan appeared.
    â€œLulu! Mellie!” exclaimed Nan. “ It’s one o’clock in the morning! ”
    That surprised them.
    â€œWow! One o’clock!” said Mellie, and Lulu said brightly, “Happy birthday, Nan!”
    â€œYes, yes! Happy birthday, Nan!” agreed Mellie.
    â€œHappy birthday!” said Nan indignantly. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Never mind ‘Happy birthday’! What in the world are you doing?”
    Lulu looked at Mellie.
    Mellie looked at Lulu.
    â€œWe’ve lost something in the wall,” said Lulu at last.
    â€œSomething?” repeated Nan.
    â€œYes,” said Mellie, “and we didn’t want to call the fire department, not on your birthday.”
    â€œThe fire department?”
    â€œTo knock down your house!”
    â€œReally only the back half,” put in Lulu soothingly.
    â€œSo,” continued Mellie, “we thought we would just bang a hole in this holey brick …”
    â€œThat one at the bottom with gaps in it,” said Lulu.
    â€œâ€¦ and let it out,” said Mellie.
    â€œ Get it out!” corrected Lulu. “Not let, get! If it’s still there.”
    She lay down again with the flashlight to check. “Poor little thing!” said Lulu.
    â€œOh!” said Nan.
    â€œAh!” said Nan.
    â€œI see!” said Nan, and she looked down at Lulu and nodded.
    Lulu didn’t notice. She was down on her stomach again, shining the flashlight. At first there was nothing, but then ginger fur appeared. An inquisitive dark eye glinted silver in the flashlight.
    â€œIs he still there?” asked Mellie, getting down to join her.
    â€œStill there,” said Lulu, sighing with relief. “I think perhaps he goes away when we bang and then comes back when the flashlight is shining.”
    Then they both rolled over and looked guiltily at Nan.
    There was a small silence while Nan looked back at them.
    â€œWell,” she said at last. “We’d better take turns with the hammer!”

Chapter Five
    Ratty in the Morning
    Deep in the night, in Nan’s little garden, Lulu and Mellie and Nan took turns, sharing the hammer and the swimming goggles. Every now and then they would pause their banging and Lulu would lie down with the flashlight to check that the lost thing was still there.
    Once, when Mellie was hammering, Lulu thought she heard something. Then she thought she hadn’t, because who would ever telephone in the middle of the night.
    Nan was having her turn when the police cars arrived.
    Two of them, blue lights flashing.
    As well as four large policemen with flashlights so bright they put out the stars.
    Lulu and Mellie ran one each side of Nan, and they held her tight.
    â€œDon’t you worry!” Lulu told her. “We’ll look after you! We’ll tell them it’s your birthday!”

    That didn’t need to be done. They were very nice policemen, not at all as scary as they looked.
    They were very polite too. They said, “Would you mind telling us what is going on?”
    Lulu looked at Mellie.
    They both looked at Nan.
    Then they looked at the waiting policemen and Mellie asked, “Can we whisper?”
    â€œCan they whisper?” the largest policeman asked Nan, and Nan nodded yes.
    So Lulu and Mellie took the largest policeman down to the orange and lemon tree and they explained everything that had happened. They began with Emma Pond and they ended with the hammer. And while they were doing it, Nan made everyone cups of tea.
    The policemen took their cups of tea under the orange and lemon tree and they stood in a circle around the paddling pool and Lulu and Mellie’s policeman told the others all that he had discovered. He was very careful to whisper.
    Then all the